I made this cute little banner to hang over our manger scene.  I saw it on Etsy and thought… I can make that!!!!!!!!  So I did   LOL  As it hangs in my living room it makes me smile.  I walk past it and it truly helps me to remember what it is that I believe.  (Want to WIN one of your own??  read to the end of the post to find out how!!)

I can honestly say that I have deep seeded beliefs.  My entire life has been molded and shaped mostly by my faith and by those who have taught me what SHOULD BE even if that isn’t necessarily what IS.  I know that people are affected by their life experiences but for me it seems that instead of being shaped by experiences in my life, I have been affirmed by them.  If that makes any sense…  I haven’t been changed by these experiences but I now cling to these things that I believe, even more tightly now because I KNOW that these things are true!  From the abundance blessings that have been given to me I know that I am a daughter of the MOST high King.

So today… I will let you in on a few things I believe:

I believe that God, is our Heavenly Father who seeks prosper us and not to harm us, to give us HOPE and a future.

I believe that Jesus, the Son of God, was sent to die on the cross for the atonement of our sins and to make a way through himself to the Father.

I believe that the Holy Spirit completes the Trinity.  I believe that the Holy Spirit is real and lives inside me every single day.  I know that this is true because I can feel that sweet tug and gentle guidance that the Spirit gives me in times of need or joy.

I believe that the Bible is not just reading material.  Its a real, living, inspired God breathed instruction manual for life.  I have read the Bible from cover to cover.  I believe that it important to KNOW the Bible in its entirety to be able to correctly interpret the sum of its parts.

I believe that we are to live according to the laws of Moses but in the FREEDOM of the Church of Acts and in the spirit of the Apostle Paul and the Corinthians.  When Jesus died the veil was TORN and therefore I am happy that we can live in a church that has the freedom to worship.

I believe that the world is a beautiful place, that humans are good whether they have gone awry or not.  I believe that everyone has the ABILITY to do good and choose the RIGHT over the WRONG.

I believe that there is a RIGHT and a WRONG and nothing in between.  There is no gray area.  There is no justification.  I choose not to be lukewarm because I would rather not be spewed from His mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

I believe in the Truth.  I believe that half truths are lies.  I believe that “thou shalt not lie” and I have a very guilty conscience which rarely allows for stretching the truth!  LOL

I believe that my life was divine instituted and the plan for it was conceived long before I was.

I believe that everyone has a purpose in life and once their divine purpose has been fulfilled their time on earth is finished.

I believe that there really is something to be being a “good” person.

I believe in random acts of kindness.

I believe that lots of things that happen to us in life are RARELY about “us” and more about who we are to BE to someone or what we are charged with doing to help someone else.

I believe that you are to choose the right no matter what the outcome.  It doesn’t matter what the bum on the street is going to do with that dollar bill, you are to provide it to him.  Whatever you do for the LEAST of these brothers… you have done for Christ.  (Matthew25:31-46)

I believe that there are miracles that happen around us each day.  We should take a little time everyday to be still and know that HE is God.  To SEE the wonder in the world that we live in.

I believe that you must STAND for SOMETHING or you will FALL for ANTYTHING.

I believe that Christmas is magical and that there is nothing more beautiful that the glow of a Christmas tree.

I believe that children can hear the heartbeat of God.

I believe that love never dies.  I believe that love bears ALL things, believes ALL things, HOPES all things, ENDURES all things.  I honestly believe that LOVE never fails.  It may get lost along the way but it will never fail.

I believe that the best smell on earth is warm baked cookies and the smell of my own pillow.

I believe that no matter how hard you try you will eventually fail at something in life but that should not stop you from trying.

I believe that no matter hard you fall you can ALWAYS get up and move on.  There is no “laying down to die”.

I believe that sometimes you have to help YOURSELF.  There is only so much that others can do for you.  Sometimes even Doctors need your help to be able to help you.

I believe that you should live like you were dying and enjoy every single moment and every single breath.

In the spirit of today’s post… I am offering a little giveaway… I handmade myself this bunting to go over our manger scene this year and I want to share this with YOU!  Leave a comment and tell me what it is that YOU believe and I will randomly choose a commenter to receive a copy of my “believe” banner to add to your holiday decor!  YAY!!!!!  Comments will close on Monday at noon.  I hope to ship this Monday afternoon so that you can get it ASAP!!!  So get those comments rolling and let me know what it is that YOU believe!

Recent Comments:

• varundbest says I always visit your blog and retrieve everything you post here but I never commented but today when I saw [more]
• Lorenzo Sternisha says Lots of Fantastic information in your posting, I bookmarked your blog so I can visit again in the future, All [more]
• Tricia says Learning to be joyful in the sufficiency is a great place to be, rather painful at times, but still wonderful. [more]
• Carla says email me the amount you don’t want to go over on DVDs our HUGE consignment sale is next week, and [more]
• Danielle says Agreed. Send me your address and I’ll get a little care package put together for the patient. I [more]

• November 24, 2009 -- Be Still my heart… (er.. nose)
• November 12, 2009 -- For God has NOT given us a spirit of fear…
• November 11, 2009 -- It can’t end this way….
• November 10, 2009 -- Heroes and Villains
• November 9, 2009 -- 7 weeks Till Christmas

My kitchen cabinets were custom made by Troy and my dad about two years ago. They did a fabulous job but in the rush to finish them they were not properly finished. They should have been sanded about 3 extra times and finished twice more and THEN sealed. So neither Troy or myself have ever really LOVED them. When we first designed the kitchen I had debated on black cabinets but I thought they would look “home made”. I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Troy has really come a long way in making his project look truly professional! We have had a compressor for years and had attempted to spray some things and just did not get it right. This time he definitely got it right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cabinets BEFORE:

Cabinets AFTER:

The pic was taken really late at night… when I have some natural light and when all of the cabinets are done I will post better pics but they are SUPER chic and very modern looking! I am ecstatic! Every time I open one I think… yummy! Truly I love them! I found the silver hardware at Home Depot and because I was able to buy in bulk I got ALL the hardware for only $75!!!!!!!!!! We have a TON of cabinets so that was huge. I also bought this hardware MONTHS ago but with Ky being sick and the holidays we put the cabinet plans on hold. So…. spring has come and a FOR SALE sign will likely be going in our front yard soon. Its time to get it right!

Coming SOON to the kitchen… the RED WALLS are going green! YAY!

Mindy… you win THIS:

We all struggle with keeping our houses smelling good! I have a new found love for this sense and spray and a long time love of the wallflowers! I am also sticking in a Bath Buddie for Ellie! Mindy… email me your address so I can get this in the mail to you. (But we all know how bad I am at getting to the post office… so hopefully Troy will get it there soon!)Recent Comments:

• varundbest says I always visit your blog and retrieve everything you post here but I never commented but today when I saw [more]
• Lorenzo Sternisha says Lots of Fantastic information in your posting, I bookmarked your blog so I can visit again in the future, All [more]
• Tricia says Learning to be joyful in the sufficiency is a great place to be, rather painful at times, but still wonderful. [more]
• Carla says email me the amount you don’t want to go over on DVDs our HUGE consignment sale is next week, and [more]
• Danielle says Agreed. Send me your address and I’ll get a little care package put together for the patient. I [more]

Random Posts

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This pic pretty much sums our entire week and weekend. When Ky is feeling really badly she wants to be held… 24/7. We even had to break out the sling (which is AMAZING BTW… its a ZoloWear that several of my photography forum friends bought me years ago when Ky was tiny) and put her in it because she would just SCREAM if we put her down and our lives have to go on. I wish I was able to do nothing all day but sit on the couch and hold her but reality sets in and you have to bathe the boys, cook dinner, do the laundry and………. notice what Troy is doing??? If you can guess what that is I will send you a prize! WHAT IS THE PRIZE?? I dunnow yet… but I will think of something! So… when you leave your comments… try to guess what is happening! There are clues in other posts and pictures!

Back to the story… So how is Kyleigh? She is doing better. The light is back in her eyes which means a lot in our world. When she is sick you can SEE it. Evidently Omnicef is NOT a good drug for kids (or our kid anyhow) with intestinal issues. The omnicef that we gave her for an ear infection starting monday- darn nearly shut down her intestines by Thursday. Lucky enough for me … we have BTDT once before. Our favorite friends Laura and Emma were (Laura… rewind to October… yeah that is what I dealt with again this week! Nice right?) staying with us so that Emma could see Dr. Levitt (butt surgeon) in Cincy. Ky did the SAME thing. Started pooping blood… horrible irritable.. lots of pain… definitely some major bacteria issue happening in there.

We have managed to get it under control and we are home with gut rest (pedialyte only on a continuous feed… sigh) and flagyl in the g-tube to ward off the intestinal issues and large doses of probiotic (more than normal). It seems to be doing the trick. Ky relapsed on Saturday and had a horrible day but we were able to get it back under control.

So now we know. Even an ear infection for Kyleigh can be life altering. And NO MORE OMNICEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have sworn it off. We did end up having a good discussion with Megan (the ped) about supplementing ANY antibiotic run for Kyleigh with Flagyl seeing as how her flora is an extremely delicate balance. She constantly teeters on flora disaster obviously and at least running Flagyl with each antibiotic would be better than spending more weeks like this one!

On a brighter note… Couponing this week was HUGE!

Deals of the week for me:
Walgreens : I had $50 worth of Register Rewards that I had to roll because they were expiring on Sunday. I managed to find plenty of stuff that was on sale, more RR, FREEBIES and good stuff to use that up.

I got:
2/$3 Oscar Meyer Bacon
2/$3 Eggs
(2) Gilette Fusion Razor (FREE after coupons and RR)
(1) Schick Quattro Razor (FREE after coupons)
(2) Bottles of Pedialyte (man that stuff is EXPENSIVE!) 2/$4
(2) Rolls of Reynolds wrap ($2.79 with WAGS coupon- $1 MFR coupon)
(3) Boxes of Tampax Tampons ($6.99-$2 WAGS coupon- $1 MFR coupon= $3.99 each)
(6) Cans Hunts Tomato Sauce ($0.39 cents each)
(1) Triaminic ($2.99 after Rebate and coupon)
(1) Axe Hair Gel (for owen’s new spiked look!- FREE with rebate)
(4) Boxes of Kelloggs Frosted Flakes Cereal (4/$10 – $2 RR = 4/$8 – (2) $1 /2 = 4/$6 = $1.50 each)
(1) Neutrogena Facial Scrub (I am OUT and I do not compromise on this although it rarely goes on sale! – $7.99)
(6) Small cute things for the easter baskets ($0.39 each with WAGS coupon)
(4) Russell Stover Easter eggs ($0.39 each)
(6) Wonka Easter Candies ($0.39 each)
(2) Motts Apple Juice (WAGS sale 2/$4 – $0.75 coupons)
(1) 3 pack of Ivory Soap (use tons of this in my laundry room to get out chocolate stains) $1.78
(1) Fingernail brush (its summer… gotta get the dirty from under there!)

Then I was off to TARGET!
I was a little disappointed that not even 4 hours into their sale day- FIRST day… the aisle was EMPTY of razors.

The Schick Quattro was $6.99- Buy TWO get $5 gift card. Use TWO $4/1 coupons from the 3/22 Smartsource = $8 off. $5.98 out of pocket – $5 in gift card = $0.98 or $0.49 each!

AND it was stock up day for me for Herbal Essences! I had coupons about to expire and I love their shampoos! I got 12 shampoos-
SALE $2.99 each – $3/2 coupon from 2/8 P&G (exp 3/31) = $2.98 for two or $1.49 each
AND as a bonus… I found an endcap that had all the shampoos with the EXTRA 40% free so I got nearly 1/2 times the shampoo for free! It may take me a year to use it all but it was cheaper than buying 1 shampoo and 1 conditioner at full price.

Now… for my biggest buy of the year thus far (well other than the diaper deal at WAGS!)

Walmart Overage paid for my groceries this week!

Glucerna Cereal is rolled back to $3.97. I have a $5 off coupon! That means they PAID ME $1.03 to take the cereal home! I had 5 of those for a total of $5.15 in overage.

THEN there are $2.83 Gentle Care Wipes. Ihad some $5 off any Gentle Care Product left over so those yielded $2.17 EACH in overage. I had 7 of those for a total of $15.19.

Then I had $1 off any Johnson’s Bath Buddy Product. My kids are newly in love with those! They are $0.97 at Wally so they each produce $0.03 in overage. Total – $0.36

All total they paid me $20.70 to take home those three products!

With my credit I purchased:
(1) Gallon of Milk
(2) packs of cheese
(1) package of bologna
(1) Spaghetti Packet
(1) Loaf of Bread
(1) Bag of Oreos
(8) bananas
(4) Apples
(1) Canteloupe
(5 lb) Potatoes
(3 lb) Ground Chuck
(1) Mac N Cheese
(2) Cans Tuna
(4) Vienna Sausage (don’t ask… owen loves them and sometimes its the only thing we can get Kyleigh to eat!)
(3) Tiny swirl suckers because they were just too cute!
(1) bag of M&M’s (my treat for all my money saving efforts!)

For FREE I also have in this pic:
(5) Boxes of Glucerna Cereal
(9) Huggies Gentle Care Changing Pads
(12) Johnson’s Buddy Bars

Total Paid out of Pocket $4.48 at one store $6.00 at another. TOTAL: $10.48.Recent Comments:

• varundbest says I always visit your blog and retrieve everything you post here but I never commented but today when I saw [more]
• Lorenzo Sternisha says Lots of Fantastic information in your posting, I bookmarked your blog so I can visit again in the future, All [more]
• Tricia says Learning to be joyful in the sufficiency is a great place to be, rather painful at times, but still wonderful. [more]
• Carla says email me the amount you don’t want to go over on DVDs our HUGE consignment sale is next week, and [more]
• Danielle says Agreed. Send me your address and I’ll get a little care package put together for the patient. I [more]

• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.
• January 14, 2010 -- Ky’s new do…
• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• January 6, 2010 -- First SNOW!
• December 15, 2009 -- One Day closer…